[biblewonk]

It has done remarkably well at explaining these observations and helping biologists answer questions as they arise.

I'm struggling to figure out how the theory of evolution has helped in any practical scientific application.

[Junior]

It's helping biologists untangle such things as the mutation rate of HIV so that they can design treatments. Cancer researchers use Evolution as a framework for their research. Every month in one of the major science-for-the-layman journals there is an article on breakthroughs in biology or medicine attributed to the evolutionary framework.

One of the latest findings may result in much longer lifespans for human beings. Researchers into aging first needed to determine why we age (why did we evolve to grow old and die), using this as a basis, they went in search of the genes which control this aging. Once the researchers had a possible target gene, they ran a study using the most complete geneological records to be found -- Iceland (going back to the 13th century) and traced out families which had a preponderance of folks living for more than nine decades. Matching this against a control group of folks who lived less than nine decades, the researchers took genetic samples from living descendents of both groups and compared their DNA and discovered their theories were on the mark.